We have another installment from Dustyn Roberts’ wonderful book, Making Things Move. In the last chapter, we covered “Introduction to Mechanisms and Machines.” Today, we look at motors and motion with “Chapter 6: Eeny Meeny, Miny, Motion: Options for Creating and Controlling Motion.” In this chapter, Dustyn covers the basics of how motors work, DC motors, AC motors, servo motors, stepper motors, linear actuators, methods of motor control, and more. There are also nine basic projects in the chapter which teach you various aspects of motor design, operation, and control.

BTW: On Dustyn’s book site, you can see videos demonstrating many of the projects. Above is an image from project 6-1: DIY Motor with Magnet. The Resources page for Chapter 6 is here.

Gareth Branwyn is a freelancer writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor for Boing Boing and WINK Books. And he has a new best-of writing collection and “lazy man’s memoir,” called Borg Like Me.